I have often wondered what did comic book authors think of superheroes back in the day, when Marvel was the most successful and revolutionary publisher. And I also try to imagine what must have been like to write for Marvel, following the footsteps of giants like Stan Lee, Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko (and their iconic creations: Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the X-Men, Thor, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, etc.).Writing superheroes can be a tricky business. It can’t be easy to come up with superpowers, villains, secret identities and all of that on a monthly basis. And yet, Stan ‘the Man’ Lee and Jack ‘King’ Kirby did it. But the Marvel Universe kept on expanding, adding new characters and reinventing old ones. There comes a time, I think, when as a comic writer you must feel like you’ve run out of ideas. Where do you go? What new approach can you use for your stories? How can you make your title more interesting or original than the ones that came before?I’m guessing that Steve Gerber and Mary Skrenes asked those very same questions, but unlike other writers they did come up with an answer. And that answer was Omega the Unknown # 1 (published in May 1976). From the very beginning it was clear that Gerber and Skrenes were attempting a more mature take; a bold move in an era in which comics were, still, mostly read by children. Omega is a silent and mysterious warrior; at a first glance, he might resemble someone like Superman. He comes from a distant galaxy, he’s the last of his race and he alone is the heir of a great power. But that’s the end of the similarities. Because Omega is not a superhero in strict terms. He’s an incognita, a manifestation of the unknown.Omega never seems to act on his own volition, he simply goes to Earth because he must be here. And once he arrives to our planet, he’s forced to intervene in situations that some might consider heroic. Except he never takes the conscious decision of being a hero. What defines a hero is precisely choice, something that is never present in Omega’s mind. For instance, reading “The Iliad”, we understand that, after many initial doubts, Achilles decides to help the Achaeans and fights against the Teucri. The fight in itself is no more heroic than, say, an ant or a bee defending its hive. But insects are biologically programmed to do so. There is no choice, and without choice we can’t talk about heroism. Achilles is a hero because when his heart advises him to retreat, to opt for safety, he still goes into the battlefield. According to this definition, Omega is not a hero. Like an automaton, he never chooses, he simply does.

The real hero of the story is James-Michael Starling, a 12-year old boy that, for some inexplicable reason, dreams of an alien world and its champion: the warrior named Omega. In the first issue, James-Michael’s parents are destroyed in a car accident. As a matter of fact, after the explosion, they melt in front of the child, revealing to be androids. ‘Don’t listen to the voices in your head’, are their final words. James-Michael is hospitalized, and soon captures the attention of a doctor. The Starling boy is brighter than any other kid, however he’s as cold as a machine. Losing his parents has no effect on him, he never seems to get agitated, or afraid, or happy, only the slightest details indicate that he, in fact, has human emotions. And his high IQ, his extensive knowledge of science and chemistry, his complex vocabulary and his emotionless behavior are very impressive. Soon, Ruth Hart –a nurse from the hospital– and her roommate Amber Grant decide to adopt James-Michael.James-Michael’s painful adaptation to the ugly reality of Hell’s Kitchen (“the odor of human excrement” in Ruth’s building and the cockroach infestation will be the most harmless problems he will have to face) is complemented by the unusual adventures of Omega. There’s a friction, an unresolved impasse between the man and the boy: Omega is mute but manages to communicate with others, James-Michael has a very advanced vocabulary but the sophistication of his phrases prevent him from talking to ‘normal’ people; Omega has powers but not the capacity to take decisions, James-Michael doesn’t have powers but he chooses to live with Ruth and Amber; Omega comes from another planet and yet he starts to get accepted in our world, James-Michael is constantly rejected by his schoolmates. And there is an invisible link that ties them together.Gerber and Skrenes emphasize the latent power of Omega, but not his achievements. When Omega gets shot by a common burglar, he’s wounded (and he must seek medical attention). When he fights against Elektro, he bites the dust; he’s subdued even by lousy villains like El Gato (a Hispanic wizard that can control cats); in fact, when Omega faces ‘The Wrench’ (an unemployed man armed with a wrench and a revolver) he is overpowered (his excuse, though, is quite valid: he gets intoxicated after ingesting alcohol for the first time; therefore, his reflexes and agility are diminished); when he struggles against Nitro he experiences more pain and agony than ever before. Time and time again, he fails. That must have been infuriating for readers back then. After all, what kind of superhero could have so many problems against such weak opponents? Because even if Omega survives or has some sort of Pyrrhic victory, the truth is that he’s never as efficient as an average superhero. He makes his best effort, he suffers, he’s injured, he gets exhausted, and sometimes his only reward is to escape alive. He’s never really triumphant. That’s made even more evident when he accidentally runs into Blockbuster (and old Captain America’s enemy), at first, the two men attack each other, but then Omega sees that Blockbuster is only robbing a bank and he realizes that to risk his life just to save a suitcase filled with ‘papers’ (thousands of dollars, actually) is illogical. And he lets the villain go, thus igniting the fury of the crowd that has witnessed the scene.

But at the same time, the world of James-Michael Starling becomes more and more dramatic. He’s 12 years old and he must learn how to deal with the attraction he feels towards Amber, the hot girl that works as photographer for the Daily Bugle; there is a hilarious scene that takes place when Amber is discussing her paycheck with J. Jonah Jameson and James-Michael helps her get a better rate, Peter Parker, of course, is impressed by the boy’s persuasive speech. But after living in isolation and being homeschooled all his life, Hell’s Kitchen is a veritable hell for the kid. The poverty, the alcoholics, the homeless guys are just too much for him to bear (at one point he and Amber think that an unconscious Bruce Banner is another drunk beggar, until he turns into the Hulk). But nothing can be compared to the torture of public school, with its indigestible food, bad teachers and bullies. James-Michael, with his fancy words, his polished demeanor and his intelligence immediately becomes the target of the school’s most abusive boys. Out of good fortune, he meets John Nedley and Dian Wilkins, and for the first time in his life he understands the value of friendship. Nonetheless, the school’s most aggressive bully catches John Nedley in the bathroom and beats the hell out of him. As a result, the boy is hospitalized. The level of brutality and violence is never explicit, but artist Jim Mooney manages to convey a sense of despair, of frustration and impotence as James-Michael realizes that there’s nothing he can do to protect himself or his two best friends: “Survival under ever-shifting circumstances entails –demands– a capacity for learning, adaptation, growth. Wry vexation, bemused detachment, the stance of the unfeeling, unobtrusive observer… may no longer suffice if existence is to consist of more than sleepwalking”.

Omega the Unknown is not impervious to bullets / Omega the Unknown no es inmune a las balas

Gerber and Skrenes wrote something that was way ahead of their time. This kind of approach would fit perfectly in today’s ‘mature readers’ market, but in the 70s, this experimental title was canceled due to low sales. Omega the Unknown # 10, published in September 1977, was the final issue. John Nedley returns to school and again he’s the victim of the bullies, and he dies at their hands. The funeral is a very shocking moment, not only for the reader but also for James-Michael, who simply can’t understand the levels of violence he sees in his school, violence that would only increase in real life, as we’ve seen after so many sad incidents in American schools. James-Michael is confronted with two choices. Try to be as brave as Achilles and prepare for battle or obey his self-preservation instinct and escape. Of course, as someone of interior intelligence he does precisely that: he runs away. He’s accompanied by Dian Wilkins, his only friend left. At the same time, Omega, influenced by James-Michael’s thought patterns, feels the compulsion of getting money. Using his powers in Las Vegas, he wins thousands of dollars in a single night, but eventually he turns up in the wrong place and the wrong time, and he’s gunned down by police officers that take him for a criminal. Omega dies, the title dies. And the initiative of pushing the boundaries of the superhero genre dies as well. In 1979, Steven Grant and Herb Trimpe tried to ‘solve’ the mystery of Omega on the pages of Defenders # 76 and 77. Who was Omega the Unknown? What was the nature of Omega’s relationship with James-Michael Starling? Nevertheless, trying to answer all the subplots left by Gerber and Skrenes, Grant oversimplifies the enigmatic essence of the title, providing a convoluted ‘secret origin’ for Omega; and ends up giving quite a bitter end to the life of James-Michael, a character that was so captivating and full of potential. Although short-lived, Omega the Unknown is an indisputable classic of the 70s. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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About the Author - Arion

Arion, who is either from Chile or New York (it’s not really clear) writes a blog that the Outhouse steals on a regular basis. Arion is by far the nicest of all the staff writers and the most well behaved only having been banned from one country. One thing we really appreciate about Aroin is that he writes his reviews in English and Spanish and we hope someday he’ll translate this blurb for us. We’re not so good at languages, just look at how well we write in English if you need proof. You should bookmark Arion’s blog - http://artbyarion.blogspot.com – and actually look at it. There will be a quiz at the end of every month.